


Carousel

by Shiggityshwa



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Development, Crossover, Episode: s10e03 The Pegasus Project, Gen, Gift Fic, Missing Scenes, Vala POV, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24209062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiggityshwa/pseuds/Shiggityshwa
Summary: A set of three vignettes acting as missing seasons for 10x03 The Pegasus Project. Details Vala's time on Atlantis and her interactions with Sheppard, McKay, and Weir.
Kudos: 20





	1. Calliope

**Author's Note:**

> Written for raybyanothername on tumblr as part of a Stargate fic exchange.

Once the landing protocols have all been run through and the vessel successfully lands on Atlantis, Daniel’s excitement becomes more palpable. He shifts nervously next to her as they wait for access into the city, and once it’s granted, he’s the first off the ship.

Supposes that it’s only fair as according to him, this is where he’s meant to be.

The others follow.

Daniel has already set into conversation with a woman, possibly Dr. Weir, as they stroll ahead, hurling long worded methods at each other. Samantha shakes her head, dutifully following along, and Mitchell who rolls his eyes.

She’s left standing in the lapse of her team, with random people scattered at the semicircle of consoles. None have even looked up at her and if she were in the gaming mood, she would simply take off. Got a good view of the city from above—there’s bound to be endless corridors and secret passages leading to riches and treasures unknown, but part of her has grown weary of always looking for the next trinket, of always seeking the thrill of the steal.

“I don’t think we were introduced.”

A man’s voice pulls her out of her scheme. He stands before her, looking rather concerned at her lack of answer, but nevertheless offers out his hand to her. “I’m Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard.”

“Sorry.” She grasps his hand finding strength in his shake, making her cock an eyebrow at him. “I was simply distracted by, well, everything.”

“It’s a lot to take in, Ms.—”

“Mal Doran. Vala Mal Doran. Vala is fine.”

“Well, I think everyone is heading to the debriefing room to start the tour.” He gestures towards the now empty hallway with only the faint whisper of Daniel’s words echoing back towards them.

They walk in silence for mere moments, before the colonel pipes up again, “so how’s Earth?”

“I’ve only been back on your planet for a few months.” They walk at their own pace, slow and relaxed. His hands are in his pocket and it gives him an atmosphere of innocence. If she had ended up in Atlantis instead of Earth, she feels he would be the one who stuck up for her. “Most of my knowledge comes from television programs.”

“Oh.” He’s taken aback only momentarily. “You watch any sports?”

“I watch most of everything to learn about the culture—oh,” she interrupts herself, remembering the one show she won’t spend a second viewing. “Except _Dancing with the Stars_.”

He chuckles while depressing a button, waiting for the doorway to another sector to open. “Not that I need a reason, but why won’t you watch it?”

“In previous years I loved to dance.” She steps gracefully over the lip in the door when Colonel Sheppard gestures for her to move through first. “Watching those celebrities dance with empty hearts is akin torture.”

“Hmmm.” He mulls over her words as they arrive at another door, one that needs his verification code for access. Judging buy the rudimentary scrawled sign taped over the Ancient writing, it’s their conference room.

Accepts the natural end to their conversation as once they’ve slipped through the doors, she’ll be reprimanded for being tardy, and a long, boring tour—specifically void of any mention of valuables—will begin.

But he halts his thumb before engaging the door. “You’re probably gonna be here for a day or two, and there’s plenty of wide-open spaces in Atlantis—if you want a dancing partner, I’m game.”

It’s a suggestion that makes her feel oddly welcome in this strange city. She offers him a weak smile before the doors hiss open, but it may have been lost in the din of disagreements exuding from the room.


	2. Roundabout

Manages to stray willfully from their tour group—clotted together in the tight hallways, listening as Dr. Weir stops at every corner and dissects everything they know about said corner.

Nothing at all interesting to her.

Part of her wishes they would have left her back under that mountain. Part of her wishes they would have partnered her with Teal’c for this mission—but he probably requested she tag along with the rest of the team.

She ducks into a room, one of the labs that, if Dr. Weir’s monologue was correct, apparently belongs to a Dr. McKay. It’s just as dark as Daniel’s lab and she wonders if these scientists prefer to live in the dark for a reason.

Floating between an aisle of trinkets and goodies, she resists the urge to snatch any up, mainly because she isn’t that impressed by what she sees, but also because a beam of light distracts her. Through a large window, she’s rewarded with a beautiful view of Atlantis. The sun hangs high in the sky, and the weather is so clear she can see the waves break against the city, even from here.

“Uh, excuse me?” Someone clears their voice from behind her. “What are you doing here?”

She turns away from the sunlight, something she’s missed these months under solid rock, and grins innocently at him, hoping that he won’t rat her out right away. This is the first conversation she’s had unsolicited and unaccompanied by a team member in some time. “I just tarried from the tour group.”

“Tour group?” Mumbles the words, a bit disgusted, more confused and stuttering. Do all the male doctors stutter? “Who are you?”

“A tour group member?” Her voice a little shrill as she shrugs at him, scrunching her nose, still hoping to pass off as innocent.

“Listen.” He points at her, but his hand is jittering, not strong and straight, and perhaps he’s been through some trauma recently. “You tell me who you are right now or—”

“Vala!”

The conversation is halted, rather deceased, as Daniel plods into the room, his face not one of confusion, but irritation. His eyebrows course, and his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. “I told you not to stray.”

“Yes, well, as captivating as you all might find the history of specific corners, my brain requires a little more stimulation, Daniel.” At the end of her sentence she glances back to whom she assumes is Dr. McKay, and beams again, only furthering the man’s confusion.

“What are you doing in here?”

“Dr. McKay and I were just having a conversation.”

“Uh huh.” Daniel instantly sees through her charade. “Did you take anything?”

“No.”

“Did you take anything?” He repeats, his eyes narrowing further.

“No, Darling, mostly because all the gems on that table are fake.”

“Except they’re not,” Dr. McKay scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest in a big huff. “They came directly from a mining planet in exchange for—”

“Well, then you were swindled, Darling.” Tilting her head to the side she offers him a rueful smile.

The doctor, again, looks confused, but his eyes widen, and his mouth grows agape as he realizes that he was swindled. Expects him to become irked the way Daniel does, but instead he grins, and opens his mouth to respond.

Only, Daniel grabs her by the forearm, and begins to drag her from the room. “Come on, Vala. They’re waiting for us.”

Allows herself to be tugged along, as petulant as it seems, perhaps all her wheedling has earned it. At the lab entrance she manages to throw a wave back to Dr. McKay, and just before the doors snap closed, he returns the gesture.


	3. Brass Ring

Sneaks away from Daniel while he’s conversing with Dr. Weir about the Ancients, about the system put in place for them to spy without offering any real help. Feels like there are no real conversations anymore, that the majority of their speech is devoted to missions and the SGC. Even a casual dinner around a commissary table turned into a secondary debriefing despite Mitchell, Samantha, and Dr. McKay being successful on their mission.

For the sake of her ears and her soul, she needs just a moment away to settle.

Only manages to round the corner before realizing that all the hallways appear too similar for her to currently navigate.

In the mountain she’s able to slip around relatively unnoticed, knows which hallways connect with which, and can have herself in areas that require the highest of clearances within the blink of her eye. But here, she doesn’t know what she’s looking for, aside from some solitary time and a conversation that doesn’t reek of all business and no pleasure.

Hears Daniel’s voice echo down the corridor as he bellows her name. Her shoulders hunching instinctively, and her back pressing against the wall, lest he find her. But, with a huff of irritation, he returns to Dr. Weir’s office to most likely continue talking about Merlin and Morgan Le Fay.

Would continue her casual trek down the hallway—perhaps to find that dashing Lieutenant Colonel who offered her a dance—but is weighed down by the guilt of knowing that if she feels this tired after a day of watching Daniel interact with an Ancient, then he must be even more exhausted.

Reluctantly, she ignores the random Atlantean personnel who have obvious places to be and no universes to currently save and drags herself back to the mouth of Dr. Weir’s office.

“Is there anyway you can put out an APB for her?” Daniel shrugs his jacket on, his movements a little stiff as he stands between the two chairs he and she previously occupied.

Dr. Weir reaches, snatching up the cradle of the phone. “I could make an announcement for her to meet you in the conference room. Would that help?”

“No.” He shakes his head, and although it confuses her, he doesn’t seem to be upset by her antics. “She probably wouldn’t listen anyway.”

“Daniel,” Dr. Weir’s laugh is a little punctuated, “don’t take this the wrong way, but she’s not usually the type of person you’d give the time of day to.”

His head bobs as he nods in agreement, and there’s a little sting in her chest, because she knew she was inadequate, but she didn’t know she was that malignant. “Oh, I know.”

“Sam told me you were the one who fought to get her on the team.”

Daniel nods again, his forthrightness refreshing, but also indicative of just how much he’s missed Dr. Weir’s point. “So?”

“So,” Dr. Weir grabs her own jacket from the back of her desk chair. “Why put all that time and effort into someone who just annoys you.”

“Because as much as she annoys me, she challenges me.” The way he says it, with a straight back and even voice makes her think it’s a truth. “She’s smart, maybe not in conventional ways, but she adds a crucial perspective in a lot of matters—” by now he’s starting to run out of breath, his answer turning more into a ramble “—I don’t think anyone’s ever offered her the chance to help before without wanting something back from her, so she’s still learning.”

“Then she deserves that chance—”

Fears the conversation will somehow turn sour if she dallies any longer, so, with a heaving breath to control emotions ignited by Daniel’s kind words, she walks casually back into the room, effectively halting the dialogue.

“Are you two finally done speaking of Ancients and ascensions?”

“Yeah, I think we can call it a night.” Daniel glances to Dr. Weir, and then back to her, while fixing the collar of his shirt. “You want to see what the city looks like at night?”


End file.
